The Gaither Report

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On November 7, 1957, H. Rowan Gaither’s report, “Deterrence & Survival in the Nuclear Age” was issued. It called for $30 billion to build bomb shelters to protect American citizens in the event of nuclear war. In the years that followed, articles, such as those published in the New England Journal of Medicine (5/31/1962) called out the medical consequences of thermonuclear war, including “Some Psychiatric and Social Aspects of the Defense-Shelter Program” by P. Herbert… Continue reading

Healing Energy: Radium in America

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The Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has launched a new exhibit on the history of radiation medicine in the United States. In the final years of the nineteenth century, researchers in physics and chemistry discovered new forms of energy, starting with x-rays in 1895. In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium naturally emitted an invisible, previously-unknown form of energy. Following up on Becquerel’s work, the husband-and-wife team of Pierre and… Continue reading

Bullitt History of Medicine Club Lecture: “Once You Pop, You Can’t Stop (Bleeding): Aortic Aneurysms and their Management from the 18th to the 21st Century”

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Please join us for the next in the series of Bullitt History of Medicine Club Lectures  on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 12:00 noon in the UNC Health Sciences Library, Room 527. Refreshments provided! Our speaker will be Justin Barr, MD, PhD, General Surgery Residency Program, Duke University Medical Center. Continue reading

Hopkins and the Great War

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Chemistry professors recruited to do research in chemical warfare. Surgeons developing revolutionary new techniques to deal with gruesome war injuries. Nurses stepping into unprecedented new leadership roles at home and on the warfront. Student soldiers living in engineering classrooms converted to barracks. All these things and more were experienced by the Johns Hopkins community during World War I. Continue reading

Columbia History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series Surgical Transgressions? Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, and the Controversial Artificial Heart Case of 1969

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Please join us on Thursday, November 10th at 5:30 pm in Conference Room 103-A of the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library Hammer Building for the next in the History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series: Surgical Transgressions?  Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, and the Controversial Artificial Heart Case of 1969. The speaker will be Shelley McKellar, Ph.D., Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario. Thursday, November 10, 2016. This series is… Continue reading

Upcoming at UNC: Health Sciences Library Special Collections Open House!

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Do you want to attend a Halloween event that won’t affect your waistline and is free of Disney princesses and Minions? Here’s your chance! Visit the UNC Health Sciences Library on Monday, October 31 at NOON (HSL 527) to view books, photographs, and medical equipment that will make you appreciate today’s medical and dental practices. This event is also a celebration of American Archives Month and North Carolina Archives Month. ~This post is courtesy Dawne… Continue reading

History of the New York Academy of Medicine

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The New York Academy of Medicine Library began in 1847 with the intention of serving the Academy fellows, but in 1878, after the collection had expanded to include over 6,000 volumes, Academy President Samuel Purple and the Council voted to open the Library to the public.  It continues to serve both the Academy fellows and the general public, providing an unprecedented level of access to a private medical collection.  Today, the Academy Library is one… Continue reading